Is the first year of marriage The hardest and why?

Yes and no. Yes because that is the year you two are learning to adjust to the new "lifestyle". Sometimes the honeymoon produces a baby so pregnancy and newborn hood play a roll in the difficulty. Sometimes its the added expenses to a "fixed" income. Or its harder then one spouse thought it would be. Or maybe when you finally bought the cow, the cow quit producing milk! (That could be taken many different ways! Lol)

Sometimes the first year is the most glorious year! The honeymoon is not "over." The newness and thrill of finally being married encompasses you. Your life has just begun together.

For some people the hardest year is the 7th year due to the ever dreaded urban legend of the "seven year itch."

And yet for others it is a much later year when trials in life happens. Life isn't always cupcakes and rainbows. There is disease, sickness and getting older, accidents, deaths of loved ones, job loss/change, retirement, disabilities, mental health issues, financial problems is a biggie!

What ever happens, whether the hard times are early on or later on, cling tight to one another. Persevere. Look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Know that the night can not last forever for tomorrow brings a new day. You are making history together. ☺

There are so many variables in life the first year of marriage depends on your circumstances and how you and your mate aproach marriage and life. It can be the most glorious year, or the most tramatic year, or the most horrendous year, or a miracle year. Usually folks say the "third year" is the decisive year. By then you and your mate should know all there is to know about each other. Major life altering decisions are made that year for many people.

It gets "Less difficult" if you have lived together for a while before, BUT . . . The biggest part of it is learning the "Lines of Compromise".

The exploration of the limitation each individual has is key to respecting, and understanding one another in a marriage. When my wife would get home from work, I would want to "Engage" in conversation immediately, but it turned out she would need to decompress from being in work mode before she could do this . . . Over time the she has started doing this on the way home, and I have learned how to gradually engage in conversation as we adapt to each other's needs.

This is part of what it means to "Work at a Marriage" . . . There will NEVER be that perfect person, but love tends to soften the edges, and our use of empathy and reciprocity is at work in changing attitudes that were exclusively centered around one's self to one that is centered around a couple as one unit.

Communicate, Compromise, Compassion, Cooperate . . .

There is your 4 "C's" for a healthy marriage.